III. Who Does Judge Rightly & Punish Justly?

If not me, then who will judge and punish the offender?

If the victim does not decide what is a fair and just consequence for the wrong, who does?

The Lord Almighty

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord” – Paul the Apostle’s plea to Roman Christians- Romans 12:19 NIV

“But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.” Jeremiah 11:20 NIV

The Lord Almighty is the only one who can “judge righteously and test the heart and mind

,” not the victim or a jury of peers. A trial in a court of law is an attempt to accomplish what the Lord Almighty does with ease – to discern the heart and mind of the offender. Back to statement # 3 in the Pop Quiz: YES, today I should be doing the Lord's work – except for vengeance which He has reserved for himself. This part of the climb up Mount Offense will address the question of who will judge and punish the offender.

Forgiving another requires two choices. First, choose to either accept the hurt and suffering that another has brought into your life or choose to continue letting it shackle you. The second choice, which we are discussing here, is whether to carry out the vengeance you feel is justified or to turn the offender over to the Lord Almighty for judgement and justice. Note that this decision is made by one person – you.

First option, West D. Wetstone appoints himself to judge and punish those who have wronged him. Can I judge impartially? Can I discern the heart and mind of the offender? Unlike God, I cannot (note the understatement). Thus, I am left with judging the offender based on my perceptions of the facts and the degree of my hurt. Often my 'just punishment' is focused on me and how I was wronged. Rarely do I consider what Father may be doing in the offender's life, particularly if they are a fellow follower of Jesus and also in the process of being conformed to Jesus.

Second option, choose to trust Father to judge the offender while doing something good for them? Choose to trust Father to orchestrate all the offenses and hurts such that they come together for our good. (Romans 8:28) For me, that is a lot easier than trying to discern justice. In some ways, delegating this judgement to Father is like the mother who tells her disobedient son, "Just wait till your father gets home." Whenever I heard that phrase, I knew the wooden spoon in mother's hand was less painful than my father's belt interacting with my seat of understanding.

Back to Romans 12, did you read the first part of Paul's statement? If I continue contemplating revenge on one who has wronged me, such as 'that woman' who killed my brother or my ‘ex’-colleagues, then I am blatantly disobeying God’s command to not avenge myself. I have now become the offender. Have you seen the cartoon of the mouse defiantly flipping off the swooping eagle moments before nasty talons constrict around his tiny body?

Whenever I choose not to forgive, I am like that defiant mouse telling the Lord Almighty that I, His creation, know how to avenge myself better than He knows. It is absurd to think that little ole me could judge and punish more righteously than Father. Yet I do just that when I choose not to forgive.

POP QUIZ

Does holding a grudge equate you with that defiant mouse flipping off the Lord Almighty?  See Romans 12:19 for answer.

Inviting God to interfere in your daily life – a Sidebar

When one chooses to seek their own vengeance and not depend on God to judge righteously, they are reinforcing the Western philosophy that the spiritual realm does not interact with the physical realm. Instead, the spiritual realm only interacts with non-corporeal entities and maybe with the non-physical side of man, if man has a spiritual dimension. And the physical world, that which is discerned by the senses, interacts only with the physical components of life – nature, animals, humanity, and "natural" disasters. For example, while conversing with another, do you ask Father, or His Spirit, what He is currently doing in the other person's life and what you need to say or do to move that work forward? At the office, do you ask Father to join the team developing the solution. Typically, I am thinking, 'I got this'. When we choose to bring Father into our daily lives, we are integrating the spiritual and physical worlds, a very uncommon integration in our Western society. But by choosing not to forgive, your actions are drowning out anything you are trying to say. Unforgiveness and not turning over the judging to God is proclaiming that one does not believe God is present. It proclaims that Lord Almighty is unable to judge righteously or punish justly. Rather their actions and mindset proclaim that Father is merely a life ring hanging on the wall in case of an emergency.

Recently a seasoned follower articulated some of his struggles in life and ended by stating: "But God has always been there when I need Him."

Where was God when you did not need Him? Inviting Father to interfere in my daily challenges and decisions is something I have been endeavoring to do for decades. I know Father is glad to help with an overwhelming crisis. But I believe He also enjoys being around us. I believe He enjoys our compliments of His flowers and desires to be part of our conversation on this or that.

Life Experience

In one of my dating relationships, we both took the exact same couples' assessment. There was one issue that shocked me. The question was, "Do you spend enough time together?" I answered with a strong YES. I was committed to a date night each week where I gave her my undivided attention. Probably it is a guy thing, but I thought that was very good. (I had never seen dad have a date night with mom.) We were getting to know each other very well. Her answer was a strong NO. Dumbfounded I looked at her and asked what more did she want beyond our date nights? She just wanted to hang out with me, to go shopping and other errands. That was a new one for me. I learned that being together did not mean always focusing on each other. It was good to hike a trail together or read books while in the same room. (Yes, we are both introverts).

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I believe this is sort of what Father enjoys in 'hanging out' together. While endeavoring to practice Father’s presence, I have watched how others practice His presence and, at times, incorporated their methods into my efforts. For instance, one family always set an extra place setting for Jesus who would join them for the meal. Or the elderly woman who always had an empty chair by her bed to remind her of Jesus' presence. Perhaps to increasingly invite Father to provide input into one's exercise, finances, driving, family time, and decisions as well as one’s worries is part of the renewing one's mind.

I may discuss this further on another day but know that when we practice the presence of God in our lives, we generously forgive, pray for our enemies, and leave the judgment and punishment to the Lord Almighty who does know the heart of the offender.

Before wrapping up this portion of our hike, another fact of which Father often reminds me that I am rarely the only person in this conflict. As God is at work in transforming me, He also is working in the offender’s life – and often in the lives of those watching. Father may be tapping them on the shoulder or using stronger methods to encourage them to open their eyes, to get right with Him and to get right with others. When was the last time, or first time, you asked the Spirit what he was doing in the life of your offender? Perhaps your forgiveness is the fertilizer for a seed planted years ago. Check out this other passage in Romans 12:20-21:

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. (NIV)

There are numerous stories of how forgiveness and love for the offender has led to significant life changes. Remember when I chose to forgive my dad? Several years after I apologized to him, he acknowl-edged that many of his actions were wrong and apologized to me.

Let us take a break here. As you are shedding your packs, consider these teachings of Jesus, the I AM, about our judging others and His final righteous judgement of all.

Jesus Speaks to His Judgement

vs 7 Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye?

vs 12 In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

vs 21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ Matthew Chapter 7 selected verses

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’

Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Matthew 25:31–46